In 1988 Germany, a teenaged girl likes to probe her uptight family members for the rich stories they carry from their past. When her aunt—the black sheep of the family—comes to stay with them, the girl is fascinated by her free-spirited persona and the family secrets she may hold.

In a bridge-building reconciliation workshop between Jews and Nazi descendants, a Jewish woman and a Nazi descendant attempt to connect with each other. At the conclusion of the workshop, wounds have not been healed, but perhaps a greater understanding has been reached.

An American man moves to Germany and falls in love with a married Norwegian woman in his language class. Their contrasting artistic tastes foretell a fundamental rift.

A young American woman visits her lover in Austria, torn between her passion for him and his Nazi-aligning values. Her routine visits with him and his sister occur during historical annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany.

On a trip to Basel, a man falls in love with a middle-aged writer’s muse, creating a love triangle destined to fall apart under the weight of the old writer’s age.